238: “Chich” and “Reverse” by The Whitefield Brothers

November 28, 2011 Leave a comment

White trash, or white recyclable?The Whitefield Brothers, a German duo (plus guests), take Africa (the continent), and they use it as a savory stuffing inside a pastry composed strictly of the ripest American funkbatter. They sprinkle in a few other styles and even topped two tracks off with rappers like Percee P and Mr. Lif. It goes well. I type in direct reference to Earthology (2010), their latest offering.

I’ll sample you an oddball track that tickles my ears near the holidays. It’s called “Chich” and it sounds like it’s from a Tim Burton soundtrack. But the album is diverse, and worth a full listen or seven. I also submit as evidence the video below of “Reverse Feat. Percee P And Med” which is a different thing from other things.

I suppose I can word word word you here for a few more paragraphs but it’s straw.

Listen to the music, and enjoy.

Song: Chich
Artist: The Whitefield Brothers
Album: Earthology
Label: Now Again Records
Buy from: Amazon | iTunes
Listen: MOG | Spotify

~

Song: Reverse Feat. Percee P and Med
Artist: The Whitefield Brothers
Album: Earthology
Buy from: Amazon | iTunes
Listen: MOG | Spotify

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237: “Tell Me a Tale” by Michael Kiwanuka

November 21, 2011 Leave a comment

Black man with British accent sleeps with your wife.Temptations + Afro beat + Pharoah Sanders = Michael Kiwanuka’s “Tell Me a Tale.” And that’s just an algorithm for the one tune.

Hang on… equations cannot normally describe music with any degree of accuracy. Equations don’t even have eyebrows.

But Michael Kiwanuka, a contemporary British musician, is such a stitch job of disparate influences that it’s hard not to try to break down his sound to its denominators. And then again, who isn’t a stitch job these days? In modern society, we can pick and choose who we are, more than ever before, as if the world is but an á la carte menu of identity.

Got a notion? You can find a thousand people who will sing the same song.

So be careful what songs you start to sing. This is the freedom fundamentalists are afraid of.

Sorry, I was just introducing some music, and got preachy.

Enjoy it. Amen.

Song: Tell Me a Tale
Artist: Michael Kiwanuka
Album: Tell Me A Tale Ep Isle Of Wight Sessions
Label: Interscope
Buy from: Amazon | iTunes
Listen: MOG | Spotify
Watch: YouTube

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236: “No Woman, No Cry” by Charlie Hunter

November 17, 2011 Leave a comment

Tantalus.I was best friends with an awesome dog who had the relentless spirit of a thousand suns.

He died today, 12 years old, with a tennis ball in his mouth. He had chased it down quite thoroughly, and his heart gave out somewhere very near The Moment When He Snags The Ball And The Universe Is One.

He promptly found the tree he wanted to lay under, and he stopped living in this world.

Pretty solid way to go out.

I’ll miss you, Beck. I promise not to do too much of this crying nonsense that’s happening right now, and wag my ass more like you did all the time.

A song, in memory of Beckett Sardoosky Witherspoon…

Song: No Woman, No Cry
Artist: Charlie Hunter Quartet
Album: Natty Dread
Label: Blue Note
Buy from: Amazon | iTunes
Listen: MOG

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235: “The Importance of Elsewhere” by Lack of Afro

November 15, 2011 Leave a comment

Lack of completed tie knot.Lack of Afro is Adam Gibbons, a “multi-instrumentalist and producer” according to his own site. Musical guests from an impressive network of artists sit in with him and he weaves a custom musical backdrop for each. Adam is one of those guys who can nail 11 different styles in 11 tracks. See album: This Time (2011).

Lack of Afro. White dude who pulls off soul and rap with swagger… and soft, silky hair.

Check out “The Importance of Elsewhere” just because you can. Enjoy it because you have to.

Song: The Importance of Elsewhere
Artist: Lack of Afro
Album: This Time
Label: Freestyle Records
Buy from: Amazon | iTunes
Listen: MOG
Watch: YouTube

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234: “Swing” by Savage

November 13, 2011 Leave a comment

Talk to the forearm.Guilty pleasure: Samoan rap by Savage.

Enjoy.

Song: Swing
Artist: Savage
Album: Savage Island
Label: Universal
Buy from: Amazon | iTunes
Listen: MOG | Spotify
Watch: YouTube

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233: “The Fez” by Steely Dan

November 3, 2011 Leave a comment

We keep our rubbers in our hair.Used to be, when I listened to this song I always pictured a dude with a fez on, until I heard that “the fez” means a condom. It’s a song about safe sex.

“Never gonna do it without the fez on.”

So much for the notion that the song might refer to an ACTUAL headgear-related fetish. I liked it better as a song about a perverted Shriner.

Regardless, Steely Dan have the holy power.

Enjoy.

Song: The Fez
Artist: Steely Dan
Album: The Royal Scam
Label: Geffen
Buy from: Amazon | iTunes
Listen: MOG | Spotify
Watch: YouTube

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232: “Lando’s Lament” by Aubergine 3

November 1, 2011 Leave a comment

Everyone look at me and say "Eggplant!"The 1970’s called… and they want this sarcastic go-to phrase back.

They also mentioned that they dug the future groove that happened to be pumping out of my funkbox when I answered the time-machine phone.

The band’s mother calls it Aubergine 3, and the track, “Lando’s Lament,” from In All Things Modulation (2003), is worth emulsifying with your own ingredients, and spreading across some time.

He never meant to hurt you, Han Solo.

Enjoy.

Song: Lando’s Lament
Artist: Aubergine 3
Album: In All Things Modulation
Label: Transistor
Buy from: Amazon | iTunes
Listen: MOG

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